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Can I Trust The Bible? 1

Part 2

By

Mark McGee

Chapters

Can I Trust The Bible 7 3

Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth 7 8











Can I Trust The Bible? 3 Can I Trust The Bible 7

Prophets hold a special place in the writing and preservation of the

Bible. They were so important that God told Moses to tell Israel they

could know whether a prophet was speaking for God or not by the

simple fact that everything they said had to come true.

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word

which the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in

the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to

pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the

prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid

of him.” Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Another way Israel would know whether a prophet was from God or

not was who he called the people to worship.

“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams,

and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the

wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let

us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us

serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or

that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you

to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your

heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 13:1-3

The penalty for a false prophet was the same in both cases – death.

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name,

which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in

the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” Deuteronomy

18:20

“But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to

death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from

the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 13:5

The Bible was written by true prophets of God. Jesus spoke many

times about the Word of God containing the Law and Prophets (e.g.

Matthew 5:17; 7:12; 22:40; Luke 24:44). The people of Israel at the

time of Jesus also saw the Bible being made up of the Law and

Prophets (e.g. John 1:45) Moses, who wrote the Law, was a prophet

of God, as were the prophets who wrote the Prophetic portions of the

Hebrew Bible (Isaiah – Malachi).

This is important to our being able to trust the Bible we hold in our

hands. God designed an amazing system of true prophets speaking

and writing God’s Word and scribes carefully and accurately copying

the words of the prophets through the centuries.

Prophets were also important in the preservation of the Hebrew Bible.

The people of Israel often ignored God’s Word and the reading of the

Hebrew Bible was forgotten by the people. God raised up prophets to

restore the importance of reading and obeying God’s Word. We see

Can I Trust The Bible? 5 through the careful chain of God calling specific people to be His

prophets that the Lord was preserving His Word.

The Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire about 722 BC. The

writer of Kings tells us that the written Law was still in existence at

that time.

“Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went

up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year

of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel

away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor,

the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes … Yet the

LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His

prophets, every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways, and

keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the

law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you

by My servants the prophets.’ Nevertheless they would not

hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers,

who did not believe in the LORD their God.” 2 Kings 17:5-6, 12-

14

Hosea was a prophet of God to the Kingdom of Israel during the

middle and late part of the 8th century BC until the time the Assyrian

army captured the land. Amos also prophesied against Israel during

the early and middle part of the 8th century BC. Isaiah and Micah

were prophets of God to the Kingdom of Judah during the same time

period (middle to late 8th century BC). The Law and other Holy

Writings were available for the people of Israel and Judah to read

during that century. The prophets Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and

Jeremiah were contemporaries during the late 7th century BC and the

Law and other Holy Writings were available for the people of Judah to

read. The prophets Ezekiel and Obadiah were contemporaries during

the early part of the 6th century BC and the Law and other Holy

Writings were available for the people of Judah to read. The prophet

Daniel lived in captivity under the Babylonians and Persians and

spoke about the availability of the Law. Haggai and Zechariah

prophesied in Judah during the late part of the 6th century BC.

Malachi prophesied during the middle to late 5th century BC. The

Law and other Holy Writings were available to the people of Judah

during those times. Among the very last Words God spoke to Judah

were these – “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I

commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and

judgments.” (Malachi 4:4)

Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, wrote this at the

beginning of his prophetic account - “The burden of the word of the

LORD to Israel by Malachi.” The word “burden” is the

Hebrew massa and means “prophecy, oracle, load, burden, tribute to

be carried.” It was not easy to be a prophet of God. The prophetic

messages God gave them to speak to others was often a heavy

burden to carry and deliver.

Can I Trust The Bible? 7 One other note before we leave the Old Testament Writings is about

Ezra and Nehemiah, who were contemporaries of Malachi. Ezra was

a Hebrew priest and scribe and returned with a remnant of Hebrew

priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and the Nethinim from captivity

in Babylon to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was

cupbearer for the king of Babylon and returned with more Hebrews to

rebuild the walls around Jerusalem several years after Ezra. Copies

of the Law and other Holy Writings were available for the people of

Judah to read during that time.

I am thankful to God for how He designed the careful and

supernatural system of Speaking, Writing and Preserving His Word

from ancient times. We can be assured through this process that the

Books of the Old Testament we hold in our hands are the actual

Words of the Living God.

Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth 7

Who inspired the Apostle Paul to write the Letters included as

Scripture in the New Testament? That’s right – the Holy Spirit did.

When Paul told Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to

God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the

word of truth,” he was writing what the Holy Spirit told him to write (2

Timothy 2:15). It is the Holy Spirit saying to us, “Be diligent to present

yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Spirit of God wants

us to be diligent to present ourself approved to God. He wants us to

present ourself to God as a worker who does not need to be

ashamed. The Spirit of God wants us to rightly divide the Word of

Truth. Simple and direct. That’s God’s Will for us.

Rightly dividing means “cutting straight, handling correctly,” God’s

Word. We start the straight cutting by reading every Book of the Bible

from the beginning (e.g. Genesis 1:1; Luke 1:1; Romans 1:1). Our

concern is accurate exegesis (critical explanation or interpretation of

a text). We study the Word of Truth in context (the parts of something

written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or

passage and clarify its meaning). Would we read an important letter

from a friend or family member by starting somewhere in the middle

or toward the end? Not if we wanted to understand the purpose and

intent of the writer. The same is true with the Bible. We start at the

beginning and read it carefully all the way to the end. As we are

reading the Bible in context, we observe everything. We take notes

Can I Trust The Bible? 9 about everything we see. Then we ask questions about what we see.

Answering those questions will lead us to begin the process of

interpreting the meaning of the words we’ve read.

Many years ago I heard someone say that every verse of the Bible

can be interpreted in many ways – as many ways as there are people

who read it. Does that make sense to you? Did the Holy Spirit inspire

the writing of the Bible for the purpose of everyone coming up with

their own individual truths? If I say to you, “the building across the

street is on fire,” how many ways can my words be interpreted? If I

say the same words to 20 people who are standing nearby, could

they come up with 20 different interpretations of the meaning of “the

building across the street is on fire?” Can anyone believe my words

mean something other than the fact that the building across the street

is on fire? Can someone interpret it as “the building across the street

is not on fire?” Can another person interpret my words as “the

building across the street used to be on fire, but that happened a long

time ago?” Can someone else interpret my words as “the building

across the street may one day be on fire, but it is not on fire today?” I

think not. I was quite clear – “the building across the street is on fire.”

Here’s an example from the New Testament. Matthew wrote this in

his Gospel account – “From that time Jesus began to show to His

disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from

the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised

the third day.” (Matthew 16:21) How many different interpretations of

this verse can we have if we rightly divide the Word of Truth? What I

see is that beginning at that time Jesus told His disciples that He had

to go to Jerusalem, had to suffer many things from the elders and

chief priests and scribes, had to be killed, and had to be raised the

third day. Can we interpret this verse to mean that John the Baptist

began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and die

at the hands of the elders and priests and scribes? Can we interpret

the verse to mean that Jesus told some strangers that He was

traveling to Nazareth? Can we interpret the verse to mean that Jesus

told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to meet with elders

and chief priests about opening a restaurant? Can we interpret the

verse to mean that Jesus told some priests He was going to Bethel to

die at the hands of His disciples? Can we interpret the verse to mean

that Jesus told His disciples He was going to Jerusalem to join with

the elders and chief priests and scribes to get their advice about how

best to bring in the Kingdom? Can we interpret the verse to mean that

Jesus told His disciples He was going to Jerusalem to fake His death

and then start a family with Mary Magdalene? Can we interpret the

verse to mean that Jesus told His disciples He was going to

Jerusalem to die from pneumonia and remain in the grave? Of course

not. All of those interpretations are ridiculous because the meaning of

the verse is clear. Jesus told His disciples that He “must” go to

Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests

and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Why can’t we do that with every verse in the Bible? You think it’s

impossible? Then why does God tell us to rightly divide the Word of

Truth? Why does God tell us to be workers who do not need to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, if that’s not possible? You


think it’s hard to rightly divide the Word of Truth? It is. That’s why the

Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use the word “worker” (ergates – laborer).

The word was used for people who were hired to work outside all day

long, especially those who labored in the fields. Yes, rightly dividing

the Word of Truth is hard work. It’s also rewarding. God rewards

those who labor for Him with His approval. Most importantly, it brings

glory to God!

Can I Trust The Bible 8

The prophet Malachi ministered toward the end of the 5th century BC.

God used Malachi to speak His last Words to the people of Israel for

more than 400 years. God left them with the promise of a

“messenger” who would come to Israel and “prepare the way” of the

Lord. Did God’s messenger ever come to Israel? Did he prepare the

way of the Lord? Did the Lord come to Israel? If so, when? In what

Form? How do we know?

The answer is, YES! God’s messenger did come to Israel during the

early part of the 1st century AD. We also know that he did prepare

the way of the Lord and that the Lord did come to Israel in the Form

of a Man. We know because of what is written in the New Testament.

The New Testament, as Christians call it, picks up where the Old

Testament leaves off. The writers of the New Testament claim, just

as the writers of the Old Testament did, that what they wrote was the

Word of God. In fact, the New Testament introduces us to the Word of God. His Name is Jesus Christ.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All

things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was

made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light

of men … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the

Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and


cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes

after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ And of

His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the

law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came

through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The

only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has

declared Him.” John 1:1-4, 14-18

That’s quite a claim for anyone to make – that God became Flesh

and lived among men. Here’s another claim that has rocked the world

of religion for 2,000 years.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also

in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it

were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for

you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again

and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be

also. And where I go you know, and the way you

know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You

are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I

am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father

except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have

known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and

have seen Him.’ Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father,

and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with

you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who

has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show

us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and

the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak

on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the

works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me,

or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” John

14:1-11

This is possibly the biggest stumbling block to people becoming

Christians. I’ve talked with so many people who say they admire what

they’ve heard about Jesus, but as soon as they hear that Jesus

taught He was the only Way to God they don’t believe it. People love

the idea of a God who loves everybody and welcomes everyone into

Heaven no matter what they believe or how they live their lives. They

view Christianity as unloving and “narrow minded.” They don’t want to

believe in a God Who would judge people for their sins and sentence

them to eternity in hell, so they attack the credibility of the Writings

that make those claims. The New Testament, they say, isn’t true so

the claims it makes about their guilt and God’s Judgment are not true.

Christian, can the New Testament stand up to the credibility test? Is it

or is it not the Word of God? How can we know for sure? Can we

prove it? We’ll see in the next part of our study.


Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth 8

The Church began to have problems with interpretation early in its

history. The Apostle Paul wrote several letters to individual churches

during the middle of the 1st century AD to address wrong

interpretation and disobedience to God’s revealed Truth. Jesus told

the Apostle John to write letters to seven churches at the end of the

1st century AD to address wrong interpretation and disobedience to

God’s revealed Truth. Major disagreements about interpreting the

Bible eventually divided the Church into many splinter pieces during

the early centuries of Christianity until we now have thousands of

divisions (denominations) and most Christians struggle to understand

how to do something God told us was vital to our spiritual health –

rightly divide the Word of Truth.

What if true followers of Christ around the world made right division of

the Word the priority in their lives? What if we worked hard, as Paul

asked us to do in 2 Timothy 2:15, and became very good at

interpreting God’s Word correctly? What do you think might happen in

the Church if Christians understood and obeyed the Truth of God’s

Word? What if the Church reversed the divisions of the last 2,000

years and came together to fulfill the Lord’s prayer for us – “I do not

pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through

their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I

in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe

that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21) Can you imagine the joy in

Heaven and on earth if the Church was united again around the Word

of God? What a powerful force we would be for the Gospel of Jesus

Christ.

The first phase of methodical, inductive Bible study is to carefully

observe everything in a passage of Scripture. The second phase is

interpretation. As we’ve seen in previous studies, the bridge

between observation and interpretation is questions for

interpretation. The questions we ask are based on our observations

of terms, structure, general literary forms, and atmosphere

(Methodical Bible Study, p. 97, Dr. Robert Traina, 1952). When I was

first learning how to interpret Scripture, I used a simple chart that had

observations on the left half of a piece of paper and questions for

interpretation on the right half. It helped me to see what I was

“seeing.”

Important! Don’t make interpretations during the observation and

interpretive question phases of your study. Be patient and wait until

you have seen, asked and answered – then you can interpret.

Most Christians don’t see themselves as interpreters of Scripture,

but they are. Even if they allow someone else to do the interpreting

for them (e.g. pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophet, missionary), they

have still interpreted Scripture by believing what they were taught.

The process of “rightly dividing the Word of Truth” is personal

interpretation of Scripture. Some Christians have told me that is a


dangerous proposition because we’d never have agreement on

anything in the Bible if every Christian came up with their own

interpretation, but I think the opposite is true. The Holy Spirit inspired

the writing of Scripture and knows the meaning for every word and

verse in the Bible. I believe He wants all of us to know that meaning

and has given us the way to accomplish it.

Steps to Interpreting Steps to Interpreting Scripture AccuratelyScripture Accurately

The process of accurate interpretation of Scripture is to hear from the Holy Spirit throughout your study. Talk with the Spirit Who lives

in you as you begin your time of study and share your thoughts and

ideas with Him as you read every word. Ask Him to help you during

the observation phase to see everything fully and clearly. Ask Him to

help you ask the right questions that will lead to the right answers that

will lead you to the right interpretation of every verse of the Scripture

the Spirit inspired. He will bring incredible light into your study and

you will literally hear from Him. Some of the most exciting moments

in my life have been when God’s Spirit taught me personally. I can’t

imagine a better Teacher.

Interpretation begins with defining terms. God blessed me in my first

year as a Christian with teachers who were proficient in Hebrew and

Greek. Studying with them from the original languages of the Bible

gave me a desire to learn how to do that myself. If you can, study

with someone who knows Hebrew and Greek or take classes at a

local Bible college or online. If you’re not able to study the languages,

there are many online Hebrew and Greek websites you can use to

learn more about specific terms in Scripture. Here are a few you may

find helpful:

• Strong’s Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

• Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon

• New Testament Greek Lexicon

I began studying Greek and Hebrew long before the Internet was

available to the public. I slowly purchased lexicons, dictionaries and

linguistic keys that have helped me greatly through the years. I still

use them and prefer them to the online versions. You may eventually

want to build your own library of study aids.

I do not recommend you read commentaries about the Bible until you

have completed your own interpretation. After you have heard from

God’s Spirit and know why you believe what you believe, reading

commentaries by other Bible students may add to your

understanding. However, if you read commentaries before the Spirit

guides you to His interpretation, you may be misled by someone’s

wrong interpretation. The more you practice your interpretive skills,

you will find your ability to rightly divide the Word of Truth improve.

You will also be able to identify commentaries worth your time and

those that aren’t.

In our next study, we will look at how to get the right answers to the

right questions for interpretation.



The New Testament era began about 4 BC. That’s approximately the

year when God sent the angel Gabriel to the Hebrew priest

Zacharias, the young Hebrew virgin Mary, and her espoused Hebrew

husband Joseph. All of the events happened in the kingdom of

Judea, when Herod was king. These and other facts brought out in

the New Testament Gospel accounts give us excellent insight to the

timing of the events, but can we trust the Gospel accounts as true

historical documents? How do we know the Gospels of Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John are really the Word of God? Even if we can

trust the Gospel accounts as originally written, how do we know the

copies we have in our New Testament today are the same as the

original Autographs written more than 1,900 years ago?

Do you see what’s at stake here? Christianity is based on the Person

of Jesus Christ and the Revelation of Jesus Christ is based on what

we read about Him in the New Testament. If we cannot trust the New

Testament, we cannot trust Christianity. If we cannot trust

Christianity, we cannot trust Christ. If we cannot trust Christ, we

cannot trust God. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the

trustworthiness of the New Testament.

Based on the information we have from the Gospel accounts, Jesus

was most likely born between 6 and 4 BC. Herod was king of Judea

when Jesus was born and most historians believe Herod died about 4

BC. We know from Matthew 2 that Herod spoke with wise men from

the East who came to Jerusalem searching for the one “born King of

the Jews.” This troubled Herod, so he asked the wise men to find the

Child and then let him know where he could visit the Child to “worship

Him also.” The wise men found Mary and Joseph and the Child

Jesus, but were “divinely warned in a dream that they should not

return to Herod.” An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream

and told him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt and “stay there until I

bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

Joseph did as he was told and stayed in Egypt “until the death of

Herod.” If Herod died in 4 BC, then the birth of Jesus would be 4 BC

or earlier.

Based on the information we have in Luke’s Gospel account (Chapter

3), John the Baptist began his ministry “in the fifteenth year of the

reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,

Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea

and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while

Annas and Caiaphas were high priests.” The Roman world used the

reigns of their Caesars as calendar notations, so we have a pretty

good idea about when John the Baptist began his ministry. Using all

of the historic data available from the lives of these ancient people,

we come up with an approximate date of 26 – 29 AD. Tiberius Caesar

began his co-regency with Augustus Caesar about 12 AD. Tiberius

assumed sole regency upon the death of Augustus in 15 AD. The

fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar could have been 26 AD

or as late as 29 AD. All of the other rulers Luke mentioned support

the dating of 26 – 29 AD for the beginning of John the Baptist’s


ministry.

According to all of the Gospel accounts, John the Baptist began his

ministry before Jesus began His. Luke wrote that Jesus began His

earthly ministry “at about thirty years of age.” If Jesus was born in 4

BC and began His ministry at the exact age of 30, that would have

been in the year 26 AD, which would fit within the dating for John the

Baptist’s ministry dates. The fact that Luke wrote Jesus began His

ministry “at about thirty years of age,” could mean the Lord was 30,

31 32, or even 33 when He was baptized by John the Baptist. All of

the information Luke presents fits well with the historical information

available. The accuracy of Luke’s history in both of his Letters to a

friend named Theophilus (Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts) is an

important part of knowing whether we can trust the accuracy of the

New Testament.

Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth 9

In our last study, we looked at the importance of hearing from the

Holy Spirit through the process of observing and interpreting the

Scripture He inspired. Our work as interpreters of God’s Word (rightly

dividing) is to discover what the Holy Spirit is saying, not what we

want a passage of Scripture to say. That’s the difference between

inductive and deductive study techniques. Inductive study begins with

specifics and moves to the larger perspective, while deductive study

begins with the larger perspective and moves to specifics. If we start

with a general premise and try to prove that premise through specifics

we discover, that is deductive study. If we start with specifics and

allow those specifics to add with other specifics until we see the

larger perspective, the general premise will reveal itself from the

specifics.

Another way of looking at the process is that inductive study is

bottom-up, while deductive study is top-down. Deductive study

moves from theory to hypothesis to observation to confirmation.

Inductive study moves from observation to pattern to tentative

hypothesis to conclusion and application. In inductive study we don’t

make an interpretation until we finish the process of observation. We

also shared about not reading commentaries with other people’s

interpretations until we finish our own. It’s important that we hear from

the Holy Spirit first. He will always guide us into all Truth.


“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot

bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has

come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on

His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He

will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of

what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has

are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and

declare it to you.” John 16:12-15

We also looked at the importance of defining terms. Having the wrong

understanding of a word or phrase can lead to the wrong

interpretation of an entire passage of Scripture. That’s where good

dictionaries and lexicons guide us to the true understanding of a

word’s meaning. Understanding how the grammar of Hebrew and

Greek affects definition within particular usage is also important to

understand. Many good books about grammatical rules for the

languages are available to study in English.

Step One of InterpretationStep One of Interpretation

Ask questions. Interpretive questions come from your observations.

If you are thorough in observing everything in a portion of Scripture,

then lots of important questions will arise. The process of asking

questions from your observations will sometimes send you back to

the Word to observe again, which can lead to more discoveries.

Think of the Bible as God’s Letter of Love and Self-Revelation. He

makes it clear from the beginning to the end of the Bible that He loves

people. He Created them, Redeems them, and Protects them for

eternity. How would you read a letter from someone you loved deeply

and wanted to know more intimately? Would you read it casually and

quickly and toss it to the side? Of course not. You would pour over

every word, not wanting to miss any deeper meaning that might be in

it. You would read it again and again, thinking how wonderful it was

that the one you loved so deeply would share their deepest emotions

with you. You would probably have many questions to ask this

special person in your life and would ask them in a response letter,

looking forward to receiving their answers. It’s the same with God’s

Word, except at a much higher and more important level.

Your questions for interpretation of passages of Scripture begin with

what makes up a sentence (components of a passage – terms,

forms, structure, atmosphere) and move to understanding the

meaning of the passage. From a journalistic perspective, it’s the old

“who, what, where, how, and why” questions. Who’ involved? What

are they saying? Where did they say it? How did they say it? Why did

they say it. Have you ever noticed that some reporters give you more

and better information from covering the same story that many other

reporters also covered? They all covered the same story, but usually

one reporter’s story stands out as being thorough and complete. We

want to be that kind of reporter in our study of God’s Word – thorough

and accurate.



Many New Testament historians believe Jesus Christ was born

between 6 – 4 BC, based on information Matthew shared in his

account of the Life and Ministry of our Lord (Matthew 2:1). Luke wrote

that Jesus began His Ministry “at about thirty years of age” (Luke

3:23), which would have been somewhere between 24 – 26 AD if

Jesus was exactly 30. The fact that Luke used the phrase “at about

thirty” means it could have been a few years later. While there is still

some debate about the length of time Jesus Ministered on earth,

three to four years is generally used to express the time frame found

in John’s Gospel. That would place the Lord’s Crucifixion and

Resurrection somewhere between 27 and 30 AD.

The Author of the New Testament is the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His

disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to

their remembrance all that Jesus had said to them (John 14:25-26).

Jesus Breathed on the disciples after His Resurrection and they

received the Holy Spirit (John 20:21). The Spirit fell on them a little

more than a month later as they waited for Him in the upper room

(Acts 2:1-4). The disciples immediately began to minister in the

Power of God’s Spirit and the world is still hearing His Voice.

The Holy Spirit spent the first 15-20 years after Christ’s Resurrection

and Ascension leading great numbers of people to Christ (Acts 2 – 6).

The opposition to the Holy Spirit’s Message also grew and a great

persecution dispersed Christ’s followers across the land (Acts 7 – 9).

Historians estimate that time as being in the middle of the 4th decade

of the 1st century AD. The Holy Spirit began Inspiring the Writing of

the New Testament 15-20 years later. While there is some debate

about who wrote first, Paul and James are the two most likely

candidates. The Spirit of God had much to Say to the world (John

16:5-15) and spent almost 50 years Inspiring the Writing of the New

Testament.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for

doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,

thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made

known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from

God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to

Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom

I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from

heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so

we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to

heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns

and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that

no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for

prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of

God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter

1:16-21


The Holy Spirit took great care during the Inspiration of the New

Testament, so it makes sense that He would also protect it through

generations of Christians. The Letters of the Apostles that the Spirit

inspired were carefully copied and distributed to other groups of

believers across the world. The Holy Spirit chose the Koine Greek as

the primary language of the New Testament and guided the process

of copying to make sure the copies were accurate to the originals the

Apostles wrote.

How successful was the Spirit? More than 5,350 Greek manuscripts

from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD are available for reading and

comparing. That is a large mountain of evidence for writings of

antiquity. There are only ten copies of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars

available to study, yet its accuracy is not seriously questioned. Some

of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament are within a few

decades of the original Writings, but the earliest manuscript of the

Gallic Wars is a thousand years removed from the original writing.

Again, no serious questions about the Gallic Wars.


The first course I studied in Bible college was hermeneutics

(Methodical Bible Study). It was a mandatory course that lasted two

semesters and had to be completed before students could proceed to

other study areas – a wise decision by the college. It prepared

students for everything else that would come during their education. I

was a relatively young Christian, having recently come out of

atheism, so I needed to understand the hard work that would be

necessary to spend the rest of my life rightly dividing the Word of

Truth. Methodical-inductive Bible study takes a tremendous amount

of time and discipline, but the results are beyond explanation. It’s so

important that we know why we believe something and be able to

explain that to someone else so they can understand it and apply the

Truth of God’s Word to their life.

The Second Step of InterpretationThe Second Step of Interpretation

The second step of interpretation is finding answers and reasons

for the questions we’ve asked. You’ve chosen a portion of

Scripture to study, preferably at the beginning of a Book of the Bible

(e.g. Mark 1:1; Romans 1:1). You’ve carefully looked at everything in

the verse(s) and written all of your observations. You’ve looked at all

your observations and asked every question you can think of that

needs to be answered.


Questions to AskQuestions to Ask

Terms – the definition of each word … the significance of the

grammatical structure

Form – the literary form used by the writer (e.g. history, poetry,

parable, psalm, proverb)

Tone – the atmospheric tone used by the writer (e.g. joyful, sad,

serious, urgent)

Rationale – the why questions

AnsAnswering Questionswering Questions

It’s important to remember the spiritual aspect of Bible study –

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the

Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what

man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man

which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God

except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of

the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know

the things that have been freely given to us by God. These

things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom

teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual

things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the

things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor

can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But

he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself

is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the

LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of

Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

We need to remember that the writing of the Bible was inspired by the

Holy Spirit of God. He searches all things, including the deep things

of God. Isn’t that what we want to know from studying the Bible – the

“deep things” of God? Paul taught and wrote those things the Holy

Spirit taught him, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The work of

rightly dividing the Word of Truth is not a natural thing to do and it is

something the natural man cannot do. Only spiritual can interpret

spiritual.

When we study spiritually – attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit –

we will find that Truth is often obvious. God is not trying to trick or

fool people. God Speaks openly and clearly. The correct

interpretation of a passage of Scripture is usually the obvious

interpretation. You might call it “spiritual common sense.”

Because we are human beings and the people who the Holy Spirit

inspired to write the Bible were human beings, we can understand the

meaning of Scripture from a human as well as Divine perspective.

Writers like Mark, Luke, Peter and Paul gave readers their human

perspective of Truth even as they shared God’s View. We learn so

much through their human experiences. We understand what it’s like

to be human and filled with joy or overcome by grief. It is more

difficult to understand what it’s like to be God, so God sent His Only


Son Who became both human and Divine to die for our sins and help

us bridge the gap in understanding the “deep things of God.” As John

reminds us – “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we

beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of

grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Jesus Christ is the Word of God – “In

the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were

made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was

made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)


The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is massive,

especially when compared with other historical writings. Greek New

Testament copies number in the thousands (5,686). Greek copies for

other historical writings number anywhere from two copies to several

hundred. The earliest copies for other historical copies are often 750

to 1,600 years from the original. The earliest Greek copies for the

New Testament are less than 100 years from the original. The

accuracy of the copies of most ancient writings is difficult to assess.

Homer’s Iliad has 643 Greek copies with the earliest believed to be

about 500 years from the original. It’s estimated that the accuracy of

the Iliad copies is about 95%. The accuracy of the 5,686 copies of the

Greek New Testament, with many being made within a hundred

years of the original, has an accuracy estimated to be 99.5%. If you

also count the more than 19,000 copies of the New Testament in

Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic, you see one the most remarkable

textual evidence in the world of ancient literature.

The oldest known Greek copy of the New Testament is the John

Ryland MSS. It’s a small fragment of John’s Gospel (Chapter 18)

believed to date from about 125 AD. That’s about 30 years from

John’s original writing. The Chester Beatty Papyrus dates from about

200 AD and includes portions of the Books of Romans, 1 and 2

Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1

Thessalonians, and Hebrews. That’s less than 150 years from

original to copy. The Bodmer Papyrus II dates from about 200 AD


and includes portions of John’s Gospel – a little more than 100 years

from original to copy.

Other ancient Greek copies contain almost all of the New Testament

writings and date from the 4th century AD. They include Codex

Sinaiticus, and Codex Vaticanus. Codex Alexandrinus and Codex

Ephraemi are dated from the 5th century AD. Codex Bezae and

Codex Washingtonensis also date from the 5th century AD, but

contain fewer Books of the New Testament. Codex Claromontanus

contains Paul’s Epistles and dates from the 6th century AD.

Remember the Syriac, Coptic and Latin copies of the New

Testament? The Syriac Peshitta dates from the 2nd or 3rd century

AD. The Palestinian Syriac dates from the 5th century AD. The Coptic

Sahidic version dates from the beginning of the 3rd century AD. The

Bahairic version dates from the 4th century AD. Codex Vercellensis

dates from the middle of the 4th century AD. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate

dates from the end of the 4th century AD. The African Old Latin

version dates from the beginning of the 5th century AD. Codex

Palatinus also dates from the 5th century AD.

Another important aspect of the trustworthiness of the New

Testament is what early Church leaders wrote about it – and write

about it they did. Early Christian writers quoted from the New

Testament so much that most of it could be reconstructed from their

writings without using the New Testament manuscripts. Clement of

Rome wrote at the end of the 1st century and beginning of the 2nd

century AD and quoted from eight Books of the New Testament.

Ignatius of Antioch wrote during the early part of the 2nd century AD

and quoted from 15 Books of the New Testament. Polycarp of

Smyrna was a disciple of the Apostle John and quoted from much of

the New Testament. Researchers have found more than 30,000 New

Testament quotes included in letters of the Church fathers from

before the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. Adding the more than 5,000

quotes from Eusebius in the 4th century AD brings that total to more

than 36,000 New Testament quotes. That is strong evidence that

supports the authenticity of the New Testament we read today.

The textual evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible is powerful,

but is there anything else we can look to for physical support in our

declaration that we hold the Word of God in our hands? Evidence

from archaeology in our next study.



In our last study we saw that some of the subjective methods of

Bible study include spiritual sense, common sense, and human

experience. This is where many Christians stop in their study of

God’s Word and one of the reasons we find so many different

interpretations of the same verses within the Church. Subjective

study methods are those that are based on or influenced by an

individual’s personal feelings and opinions. Objective Bible study

methods, on the other hand, are not based on personal feelings or

opinions in considering the facts before them. Rightly dividing the

Word of Truth combines both subjective and objective study methods

to be sure our feelings and opinions are based on the

Truth. Objective study methods are honestly more time consuming

and more difficult than subjective methods – but the results are

definitely worth it.

We’ve looked at the importance of defining terms, so let me add a

couple of thoughts about that aspect of interpreting Scripture. The

Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of the Bible to use specific

Hebrew and Greek words to communicate meaning. In order to

understand that meaning, we need to understand the meaning of the

individual words and their usage in Scripture. Words have a root

meaning and it’s helpful to understand the root meaning and how it

was used and understood by ancient people. Good Bible dictionaries

and lexicons are helpful in understanding the roots of words used in

the Bible.

I’ve often heard that English is a difficult second language for many

people around the world to learn because the same word can mean

different things depending on usage. For instance, the word cool. “It

is a cool day.” “He is such a cool guy.” “What you did was not cool,

dude.” “Cool it, man! That’s not cool.” Someone who’s mother tongue

is a language other than English might find it strange that we use the

word “cool” in so many different ways. In order for them to understand

the meaning of the word cool, they have to learn about usage in the

English language.

Hebrew and Greek are more exact languages than English in many

ways. For instance, the word love. Hebrew and Greek each have

several words that are translated by the English word “love”. The love

may be that of a parent for a child, child for a parent, husband for a

wife, person for a pet, brother for a brother, friend for a friend, God for

people, people for God. Knowing which Hebrew or Greek word the

human author of Scripture used in a verse helps us understand the

true meaning and purpose.

Integrating and Summarizing AnswersIntegrating and Summarizing Answers

Once you’ve answered your questions, you need to integrate the

answers to arrive at the main message of the Scripture you’re

studying. That main message is the meaning the Holy Spirit purposed

when He inspired the writing of what you are reading. If you’ve done

a good job of rightly dividing the Word of Truth, you’re ready to


prepare your interpretation for the next step. Even as you’ve written

your observations, questions, and answers, I suggest you write a

summary statement about what you conclude from integrating your

answers. A good way to do that is present it as a research paper you

might give to a professor for a grade. Include a title and simple

outline. You might also include a premise and conclusion to the

outline. Remember, this is just for you – for now. The purpose of

integrating and summarizing your hard work of rightly dividing the

Word of Truth is to see what you discovered and prepare you for the

next step. Other ways to integrate and summarize your interpretation

are paraphrase and essay. Those might even fit your thought

process better than a research paper. Your essay could include the

process you followed to get to the interpretation.

Be careful when integrating and summarizing answers not to fall into

common traps that some interpreters fall into. Every denominational

group has a different way of interpreting some portions of the Bible.

Remember, Jesus prayed to His Father for unity among His disciples.

The Holy Spirit speaks what He hears from Christ. God’s Message to

His children is not many messages – it’s one message – if it’s

“rightly divided”. That means some of the different denominational

interpretations are not correct. We want our interpretation to be right,

so we work hard to rightly divide the Word of Truth.


God knows what He’s doing. I know that is most likely obvious to you,

but let me give you a personal glimpse of how God revealed that to

me more than 40 years ago.

I was a scoffer. I did not believe in God and wanted the world to know

it. Since I had a daily radio talk show in a major market, I had a way

of letting a part of the world know what I thought about people who

believed in God. I thought they were stupid. God was about to show

me how smart His people can be.

I saw an advertisement in a local newspaper about Dr. Henry Morris

coming to town to speak about searching for Noah’s Ark. I invited Dr.

Morris on my show for a two-hour interview. My plan was to blow Dr.

Morris’ theory out of the water. God’s Plan was to get my attention.

He did. Dr. Morris was a brilliant scientist and showed me there were

many things about science I did not know.

The next step in God’s Plan was for me to see a newspaper ad for a

Christian Drive-In Ministry. I thought it would be fun to find out how a

Christian was using a drive-in theatre to preach the Gospel. I invited

Evangelist Terry Lytle to be on my program and found him to be a

kind and engaging person who knew what it meant to life by faith in

God. We continued to talk after the show and I often stopped by his

office to ask him questions. That’s where I met Dr. Ed Hindson. Ed

worked with Terry and helped answer my many questions about God

and the Bible. Dr. Hindson’s book about the Philistines and the Old


Testament had been published just a few months before we met, so

he introduced me to Biblical Archaeology. He showed me how

archaeologists had uncovered so many ancient places and people

that were witnesses to the truthfulness of the Bible.

Archaeology – The Study of Ancient Things

Archaeology is the systematic study of past human life and culture

through the process of uncovering and examining material evidence

found in graves, tombs, buildings, pottery, and tools. The built-in

dictionary on my computer defines archaeology this way: “the study

of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and

the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.” Biblical

archaeology is the study of human history of the biblical lands

“through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other

physical remains.”

The writing of the Bible covers more than 1,500 years, but the history

contained in the Bible goes back to the beginning of time. What

began with one man and one woman in a large garden grew into

many millions of people living around the world. Hundreds of

generations lived and died. That process of life and death left

hundreds of millions of artifacts and bones that archaeologists have

been uncovering.

Many people call Cyriacus of Ancona, from the 15th century AD, the

“father” of archaeology, and Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie the

“father” of modern archaeology. The “father” of Biblical archaeology is

thought to be William Albright. Other well-known Biblical

archaeologists from the 19th and 20th centuries AD include Sir

William Ramsay, Sir Fredrick Kenyon and his daughter Dame

Kathleen Kenyon, G. Ernest Wright, Frederick Jones Bliss, Robert

Alexander Stewart Macalister, Frank Moore Cross, M.A. Meyer,

Nelson Glueck, and Yigael Yadin.

Each of these archaeologists discovered hard evidence that supports

the historical accuracy of the Bible. In the next part of our study, we

will look at several of the most important of those discoveries and

what they mean to the trustworthiness of the Bible.



Congratulations! You’ve done a great job interpreting Scripture. You

are well on your way to “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” So, what’s

next?

Evaluate the value of your interpretation, Apply it to your life, and

Correlate it properly with other portions of the Word of Truth.

EvaluationEvaluation

To evaluate is to determine the worth of something. We know that the

Bible has inestimable value in part and as a whole, but how do we

determine the value of our interpretation of God’s Word? We know

that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for

doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly

equipped for every good work,” but is all Scripture addressed to us

today?

God told Abraham to circumcise every male child as a sign of the

covenant between them. Any male child who was not circumcised

would be cut off from his people because he broke the covenant with

God. (Genesis 17:9-14) How do we reconcile that direct and clear

command with the Apostle Paul’s declaration to Gentile believers that

if they became circumcised “Christ will profit you nothing.” (Galatians

5:2) Paul added that every man who became circumcised was a

“debtor to keep the whole law” and had become estranged from

Christ – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision

avails anything, but faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6) Even

though you can correctly interpret each portion of Scripture (Genesis

17 and Galatians 5) correctly, you won’t understand its worth to your

life until you evaluate it for application. Which will it be? Circumcision

or uncircumcision?

Look at the Scriptures you’ve interpreted and ask yourself this

important question – “does this have any value for people today?” If

you don’t find value in what you’ve interpreted, then you need to ask

why to make sure there are no holes in your interpretation. If what

you’ve interpreted truly has no value for today, then you don’t need to

proceed to the application phase of Bible study. However, 40 years of

studying God’s Word have taught me that every part of the Bible has

value for my life. As Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration

of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness.” All Scripture – not just some of it – all of

it.

Since the Bible does have great value for our lives today, I need to

seek God’s help to understand its worth to my life and people in my

life. Even though circumcision is not something Christians should do

today for spiritual purposes, there is great value in circumcision from

the time of Abraham to the time of Christ. Knowing that value and the

deep spiritual purpose behind it will help us understand God at new

depths and increase our appreciation for His wonderful plan for Israel.


ApplicationApplication

The process of application is to take the proper evaluation of correctly

interpreted portions of God’s Word and apply them to our life. It is

never enough to just “know” the Truth. We must “do” the Truth. As

Jesus asked the crowds of people that followed Him – “But why do

you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke

6:46) Application is the process of obedience to God. That obedience

must follow proper context and right division of the Word of Truth, but

it must follow! Bible study without application is a great waste of the

breath God has given us. The Church has wasted much breath

through the centuries.

Application is the great purpose of Bible study. God inspired the

Writing of the Bible so that people would live according to His Truth.

As Jesus told Satan – “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4)

CorrelationCorrelation

Correlating Scripture is what we are able to do well after finishing the

process of observing, interpreting, evaluating, and applying God’s

Truth to our lives. Correlation is the process of establishing

relationships and connections between and among various portions

of Scripture. We learn how to do it properly by seeing how Jesus,

Paul, Peter, John and other apostolic writers made correlations from

Old Testament passages. It is from the process of correlating

Scriptures that “topical” studies form. It is from correlation that we are

able to develop character and theological studies. Knowing that we

understand how to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” so that we are

using every passage properly during correlation gives us great

comfort in knowing we are handling the Truth as God would have us

do – “a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the

word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Rightly dividing the Word of Truth is not easy. It takes time, effort,

prayer, and a spiritual ear to hear what the Spirit says about why He

inspired what we read in the Bible. That’s why Paul told Timothy he

would be “a worker.” Rightly dividing the Word of Truth takes work,

and yields a great harvest of Truth that will change your life and the

lives of all who listen to you. Our prayers are with you as you study

God’s Word methodically and inductively!

Copyright © 1990-2016 GraceLife Ministries

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982

by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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